Health Matters

CHW Convenes National Leaders

Leon Panetta Moderates Healthcare Leadership Summit

San Francisco, CA - February 12, 2008 - Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), the eighth largest healthcare system in the nation and the largest not-for-profit hospital provider in California, is tomorrow convening two-dozen leaders in business, academia, healthcare, labor, religion, and research for a think-tank style, invitation-only discussion designed to generate new ideas for reforming the U.S. healthcare system.

"Today's reform debate typically focuses on improving the management of finances or the efficiency of clinical services," CHW president/chief executive officer Lloyd H. Dean said. "We are concerned that this emphasis, though very important, is insufficient."

"The Summit will begin the examination of healthcare reform through the lens of values, exploring the key role that compassion plays in healthcare and how it should be incorporated into any comprehensive judgment of reforms," Dean continued. "How we value healthcare will determine the structure of how we provide it and who is eligible to receive it."

The Healthcare Leadership Summit, held at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, is being co-chaired and co-moderated by Leon Panetta, director of the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy and former White House Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton, and by Lloyd H. Dean, president/chief executive officer of CHW.